I saw a door standing open in Heaven!

Rev. 4:1-8 NLT  

   1 Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” 2 And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it.  3 The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.  4 Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads.  5 From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God. 6 In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. 7 The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. 8 Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,
     “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—to the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”

Have you ever found yourself in a place so utterly beautiful that you were dumbstruck and overwhelmed to tears? Have you ever heard sounds so amazingly beautiful that you wished you could just stay in that one spot listening to that sound forever? Well, multiply that by a 'gazillion' and we might approach what John experienced in this vision of heaven. John was not the first prophet to experience Heaven. But not just Heaven, John experienced the Throne room of God, the center of Heaven. He tries to describe the layout and his words just begin to fail with the first sentences. We see that God is on His throne. The Throne itself is beyond description in its glory. And God's brilliance and beauty was so pure that no one could look upon Him without being left to feel utterly destitute and ugly by comparison. This is why the Spirit of God went before Him into all who looked upon Him so that they would be strengthened in doing so, rather than crushed with the comparison. With some of God's beauty within them, the Angels, the Seraphs, the Elders, the martyrs, and the countless believers in the assembly were able to rejoice at God's appearance because it improved their own.


The 24 elders representing all believers from the Old Testament and the New Testament people of God were on thrones. They are illustrating how the Saints of God are going to rule with Him, in times to come. The white clothing illustrated how all present had been purified by God's holiness and Christ's sacrifice. The Living Creatures represented all of creation and how it was intended to praise God at all times, living for nothing else than the Glory of God.


What was the purpose of this awesome assembled worship service? It was the revealing of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the World, as He would begin to open the end of ages and bring fallen creation to a close. He had paid the price to rejuvenate fallen creation and now He was the one entitled to initiate the end. We will look more closely at the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls in coming days. Today I want to focus on the worship of God and invite us to imagine the most inspiring, beautiful God-glorifying time we have ever experienced. Try writing that down and then meditating on that time in prayer communing with the Spirit of God. See if you can't see a door standing open in heaven in the passages of God's Word as you pray.
Your servant in Christ's love
Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com